Next Stage of Evolution Part 2
by Mizar
Summary: This is a continuation of the "Next Stage of Evolution." John/Cam continue with their relationship, but the story takes a huge turn and introduces the crew to another crew, fighting along the same lines...


Pt. 2.

Sarah and Derek sat eating breakfast. Sarah ruminating silently on what she had just seen. A big part of her horrified that John had taken up with his "guard dog" and part of her happy because John was happy, or at least a little content.

"Sarah.." began Derek. "I know this is shocking for you..."

"That's putting it mildly!" Retorted Sarah.

"I wanted so much for him to be happy, I never thought given our lives it was even possible. It tore me up inside that he might not ever get that chance. And now he's fallen for a robot. This is a mess"

"Cybernetic organism" Corrected Derek.

"And what about you, Derek? You're the paranoid one, the one constantly telling me it was only a matter of time before she turned on him."

"It could still happen, but it doesn't change the fact that John was right. She is different." He paused and said, "really different..."

"And Sarah?" Sarah looked up from starting blankly at her nearly untouched breakfast food. "I know John's displayed some questionable behaviour here.." Sarah gave Derek a "NO KIDDING!" look.

"But I've learned something fighting for him. He has the best instincts of any person I've ever met."

"He's a 16 year old boy being chased by killer cyborgs from the future because they know he's going to turn out to be the man's only hope against them. I know I've said he needs to start acting more like John Connor, but he also needs to be allowed to live, just a little bit."

Sarah stifled a sob. "I know...I love him so much. I wish things were better for him."

Derek came around the table and hugged Sarah. She put her face into his neck. "I know, but things are better for him, at least for now."

John lay on his left side, he and Cameron having fed each other breakfast after they'd made love. Cameron lay on her right side, facing him. He looked at her, relishing the curve of her form. God, he loved this. The World was different at the moment, melted away. All he saw was her. She just smiled at him, her eyes soft, her hair cascading over her shoulder and breast. She looked perfectly at ease. A far cry from her usual hyper-alertness.

Fleetingly, he wondered if this was a good thing from a strategic standpoint. But Derek had said, the humanized terminators were more effective weapons. He trusted him.

He took his finger and slowly drew a line down from her shoulder, along the side of her ribcage, then inward along the crease between her leg and her navel. She suddenly tensed up and giggled, grabbing his hand.

"You're ticklish!" He said with surprise.

"No I'm not!" She sat up.

"Oh yes?" Then he applied the fingers of both hands like a guitarist to her sides near the lower part of her ribcage. She doubled over and started laughing. He stopped and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the back of her neck. She purred.

"We should get up" Cameron said. "I have to do a patrol."

"Not before we shower first. I want the pleasure of doing something for you for a change, I'll do your back if you do mine."

They hopped in the shower, John and Cameron reciprocating each other's moves, their passion building until they made love once again.

Cameron sat on the edge of the bed while John toweled her hair for her. She turned to him.

"John, why did you pick me?"

"Pick you?"

"I've analyzed you against ideal male types. You score very high."

"Oh." He thought for a second. "Does this mean I could have any girl I want?"

"Yes, you'd have a 95-98% chance of succeeding in seducing any girl in our school."

"Hey! I better get to work!" Playfully, he motioned he was leaving. Cameron smirked and reached down and with her thumb and forefinger, applied pressure to a specific part of his leg just above his knee.

John yelped in pain and fell back on the bed. Cameron dropped herself on top of him smiling. John smiled back. "Nice defensive move."

"Offensive" Cameron said and kissed him. He kissed her back, feeling energy renewing, he was ready to go again...

"C'mon John, we have to get dressed." She got off him. He sighed and stared at the ceiling, then hauled himself upright. "Ok."

"Oh look who's up!" Derek teased. John gave him a sour smile.

Sarah started at Cameron, Cameron started back but didn't drop her gaze.

"John, can you and Cameron go into town, pick up some groceries?"

"Sure mom." Said John, trying to judge his mother's tone.

"Can I speak to you for a moment?" Sarah asked (told) Cameron.

Cameron looked to John, he didn't say anything, so she followed Sarah into the other room.

"I just want you to know, I don't like it, but I'm beginning to understand it. But if you hurt my son, I will find a way to deactivate you."

"Yes, I understand, I wouldn't." Secretly, she was just glad that Sarah wasn't going to tell her to lay off John, or worse, that she had to go. Cameron reflected on this. Sometime back, the only consideration she'd have given this would be to determine how it effected the mission. Things have changed...

"You tried to kill him!"

"That wasn't me!" Cameron said, her voice rising ever so slightly. "I couldn't help it, but I'm fixed now, I'm better."

"I know, I mean I hope you ARE fixed." Sarah felt the slightest twinge of guilt, she knew Cameron had not been in her right frame of mind when she attacked John.

Cameron stared, looked hurt. Sarah considered her for a moment. "Emotions" exist in her now. Newly acquired emotions, likely not yet fully formed or matured.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know it wasn't your fault. You were just trying to protect us and you almost got blown up doing it. Just please, keeping looking after him, it is still your main priority." Sarah put the emphasis on "main."

Cameron smiled a conciliatory smile and touched Sarah's hand. "I will, always. I love him completely."

Cameron added the last part of the sentence in-part to so she could check Sarah's reaction. Thankfully, she didn't detect any hints of disdain from her.

"I know." Said Sarah and half-smiled. Cameron, more at ease, went out the door.

Sarah reflected back on he thoughts about them "becoming us."

Derek said to John; "Look, I know your life is hard."

"Not any more" John said in a flip manner.

"John, I'm trying to say I understand. In fact, more than that. She's-"

"Cameron." John corrected.

"Cameron has evolved. She's her own person or, um, entity now. She could turn and walk out the door. Her programming to protect you is now void."

John considered this, surprised. Should he be alarmed?

"She isn't leaving, she chose to stay with you and in my opinion, she truly loves you."

John knew this. He could sense it, even if Cameron hadn't come out and said it, he'd have sensed it at some point.

"Thanks."

"Your welcome, just don't forget to keep your eye and hers on the ball. And no heroics, if you are in a situation where your life is in danger you run, you don't worry about her"

"I won't." He lied.

"Glad to hear it."

Cameron came out from the other room, "Ready to go?"

"Lets go!"

Cameron headed out to the car. Derek went upstairs. Sarah came into the room. She and John looked at each other. John walked up to Sarah and kissed her on the cheek, "Thanks, mom." She hugged him then released him. Sarah smiled, sort of a sad smile.

"John, she's new. Whatever this state is, her emotions aren't fully formed. So be gentle, don't treat her like you and I used to. This is no longer a master-slave relationship. She's in love with you, it's new and you're her first."

"I know mom. I love her. I'll treat her with respect. I owe her a lot."

"I think what I'm saying John is, be careful."

He looked at her and nodded. John headed out to the car.

"May I drive?" Asked Cameron.

"Of course, you don't have to ask me Cam, just do it."

"Good!" She smiled.

As they drove along with coast road, John considered something.

"Cam, Derek said you were doing ballet in your room after that last assignment."

"Yes?" She wondered if she'd done something wrong.

"Would you like to take lessons again?"

"No John, it would distract me from my mission."

"Pull off on the next turn off, take us down to the beach."

"But we have to get the groceries."

"We'll get them a bit later."

Cameron pulled off the main road and took one of the roads that lead down to the sand. Then got out.

John took her hand and lead her over to a spot near the water and they both sat down.

She did a quick scan of the beach. It was deserted.

"Cameron, access your directives and see what it says about me."

She complied then looked terrified. "It doesn't say anything!"

"Don't worry. Derek told me the directive would disappear. You're a free person now."

"If you don't want to stay with me, you don't have to, you no longer have a mission to protect me."

"But I want to stay, I have to protect you!" She seemed on the verge of tears.

John, idiot, you upset her.

"No, no! Don't worry, I don't want you to go, I love you, I want you to stay _with _me!"

"Then why are you saying my mission is over?!"

"Because you're not some indentured servant, you aren't programmed. I just want you to know you don't have to dedicate your life 24/7 to my well being if you don't want to."

"I do want to." He kissed her, she kissed back passionately.

"Fine," he smiled. "But what about other things, ballet for example?"

"Ballet?"

"Yeah, Derek said he saw you practicing it in the house. You went to that class on mission, but would you like to do it again, go to classes?"

"I like ballet John, but I can practice in the house, when it's safe to do so. I don't need to go to a class. I have the lessons stored"

He took her hands. "I want you have to have things, of your own."

She looked at him softly. "I do."

He felt very lucky (something he's rarely felt) at that moment and kissed her again.

"Maybe when things are more normal, if they ever are, we can do something together, go someplace?"

She didn't really know what he meant, but it sounded good. "I would like that"

He stood up. "C'mon, I want to get that stuff and get back to more important things" he said wearing a sly grin.

She scolded him kiddingly, something she saw on television, but she felt the same way. They walked back to the truck.

Sarah sat with a cup of coffee, staring at the table top. Derek walked in from outside.

"We can't stay here." He stated. "It's too exposed."

"I know. We have to move back to the city. Lots of people, less chance of being spotted."

Sarah said, "I'm so sick of uprooting John."

"Sarah, there are plenty of normal kids who get uprooted, under normal circumstances, they cope."

"It's not a question of him coping, it's the lack of any stability at all. We're just killing time until Judgment Day."

"I thought we were trying to stop it?" Derek looked at her.

"Sometimes I really doubt we will."

Derek walked up, put his hand on her shoulder and rubbed. She'd missed that, the feel of someone comforting her.

"Don't worry, we will. We have to."

John and Cameron returned, Sarah broke the news that they were heading back to L.A. As expected, John wasn't thrilled, he'd thought it would be nice to be able to settle down for awhile, have some peace to explore his new relationship with Cameron. But he understood it, the mission comes first. Cameron didn't care to move, she'd already scoped out the defensive potential of their current surroundings, but she'd knew she could do that wherever they did go.

The next day, John said goodbye to Riley. Explaining like some movie hero that she'd be "better off without him." He hated lying to her, but he figured there was no point in trying to explain why he was deeply in love with his "sister."

Two days later, they moved out, setting up in a house in West Los Angeles, near Santa Monica. Two weeks past, no problems arose, John and Cameron had enrolled in a new school. There had been no more indications in the press or the technical trade journals about any AI-type computer developments that they might be concerned with. It all seemed just too quiet.

A Hard Right Turn:

John and Cam had just arrived home from school, as usual, Sarah asked if anything out of the ordinary had happened.

"Everything was good, nothing out of parameter. John got a "C" on his English paper" Stated Cameron. Sarah looked at John.

"Thanks Cam" John said sarcastically. Cameron smiled at him. His irritation melted.

"John, I know your a soldier, or will be, but I'd like you to be a literate one."

John gave his mom a "you're kidding?" look. But he could see she wasn't.

"I'll work on it." He said with resignation.

Maybe John was right. Perhaps any un-needed information would just serve to clutter things up, make John lose focus? She decided it wasn't important enough to pursue, but she was worried that Cameron and John's infatuation with each other might lead to carelessness. She be alert for any signs.

"At least she couldn't get pregnant." Sarah thought idly.

"I'm going to go get some things for the house." Sarah said.

Derek had just walked into the living room. "I'll go with you," he offered.

"That's ok, I'll be back in 20 minutes, I'm just going to the store down the block."

John went to the kitchen to get something to eat, Cameron followed him. Derek sat down and turned on the television. "Call me if you need me to pick you up," he called after Sarah.

Sarah walked the 10 minutes to the row of stores a few blocks over, it was getting dark, typical winter-shortened day. The upper-middle class neighbourhood was much like any other except it bordered a more urban area. The strip of stores that marked a kind of boundary between the suburban and urban areas was the usual, clothing stores, hardware, furniture, all generally priced high because they weren't chain stores and the rents there were high. Sarah went into the hardware store to see about trip alarms for the house. They had a system already, but she wanted to add some redundancy.

It was dark, she walked the short distance home. As she approached the block with their house, she noticed a man, walking on the same block, about 600 yards down. Even at that distance she noticed immediately the head motions and the erect posture. For a second she figured he must have been a military man, probably saw urban combat duty until he turned around and locked onto her. She waited a few more seconds. Terminator! Not one she'd seen before but it was hard to tell at that distance. She couldn't go to the house. The stopped and looked in her direction for a few moments, then began walking toward her at a fast pace. She dropped the parcels and ran back the way she'd come.

The terminator was likely pursuing her at speed, but he was still a considerable distance behind. She covered the distance back towards the store strip fast, scolding herself for not having taken a vehicle. She could grab a car at gunpoint once she hit the strip. She decided to cut the path shorter by going down an alley just before the strip. She entered the alley and made it about 30 yards when the Terminator came around the corner at a run. She could not outrun it. She looked around frantically for a weapon of some kind. She found a piece of re bar about three feet long. The terminator go to her.

She swung at its head as hard as she could. The re bar impacted, tore the skin exposing the metal scull material beneath. It didn't phase him. She knew it wouldn't. He grabbed her around the neck and lifted her up a few inches above the ground.

"Where is John Connor" the terminator said in a monotone.

She didn't answer. She attempted to stab the terminator in the chest, but the re bar just hit what felt like a steel wall. If she agitated too much, her neck would snap.

"Tell me where John Connor is." The terminator increased pressure on her neck. She could feel her blood flow being cut off, her vision swam. She heard a loud crack, felt a shudder ripple through the terminator's arm holder her.

Then the terminator dropped her. She fell to the ground and looked up, coughing. Her neck felt unbroken, she planned her next move.

The terminator had turned and was facing a man. The man was talk, dark complected, dressed in a long black leather jacket. Human though. She tried to shout to him to get out of there, but her throat wouldn't let her.

"I really hate it when demons abuse the locals." The man remarked in a flip way. Then he moved. So fast she couldn't follow him. He kicked the terminator, sending it rocketing away, across the alley, ending with a terrific wham against the building wall. The terminator crumpled onto the ground.

The man seemed to be wincing in pain in the leg he'd used to side-kick the terminator. "Heavy demon!"

He smiled and extended his hand. She looked up at him, warning him in a horse voice, "He's not...done, the kick won't stop..."

The terminator rose up, turned, looked at the man and attacked. The man jumped aside, easily pivoting around the terminator's attack. Then he hit the terminator with a fist in the jaw. The terminator's head snapped back, but instantly righted itself. Then it struck the man with a swinging roundhouse which sent the man airborne into the other wall of the ally. He hit the wall, pressing the red brickwork inward and fell to the ground.

"He's dead." Sarah thought.

The man was sitting against the wall, his head lowered. The terminator turned to face Sarah and started to advance, she got up to try to run. Then the man's head snapped upward.

He emitted what sounded like a growl. His face had changed. His brow and cheekbones had become ridged, his eyes were narrower and yellow, his lips were drawn back and his teeth were different, the incisors were pointed. "What the....?" Thought Sarah.

He hit the terminator with both feet, sending it into the wall. The terminator rose from the crumbled brick and went after him. But he was much faster than it was. He hit it with a flurry of punches so fast they were blurs to Sarah. But he quickly surmised this was not going to stop the terminator. He tore the lid off a nearby dumpster and as the terminator came at him, hit it in the neck with an elementally powerful blow, it sounded like a high calibre rifle going off. The blow disarticulated the Terminator's neck, sending the head flying up in the air. The body fell to the ground, twitching slightly. The head landed about 20ft away, sparks flying out of the severed neck.

"Killer robots" remarked the man lightly. His face was normal now. "It's not something I see ever day." He smiled. "Are you alright?" He pulled Sarah up by the hand till she stood, somewhat unsteadily.

"Yeah, thank you. Sarah's mind was a blur of potential questions. So she asked the practical one first. Do you have a car here?"

He looked at her, caught somewhat off balance by her question.

"Yes, it's just around the corner." He looked at her quizzically.

"We have to take it," she said pointing at it the terminator's body parts, "and destroy it."

The man said, "Uh, I think it has been."

She looked at him, already moving, "No, it hasn't." Sarah and the man dragged the parts to the side of the wall and covered them with some wood debris.

As they walked to his car, he said, "My name is Angel, you must have some questions-" he said somewhat nervously.

"-They can wait." My name is Sarah.

"Oh, ok!" Angel said amiably. They walked to his car with her, trying to figure out who or what she was.

They got in the black 1968 Plymouth GTX and sped back to the alley. Luckily, the alley was deserted. They put the body in the trunk and the head in the back seat. The body was about 50% heavier than the average person. Angel worried briefly about his upholstery...

Sarah had surmised that he presented no immediate threat. In any case, it was apparent,that for whatever reason, their cover was blown-again. She hated what this would do to John, but they had to move again.

"My house is nearby, but drive where I tell you." Sarah ordered. Angel complied, getting more curious as they went.

Sarah made him circumnavigate the blocks around her home a few times, making sure there were no other terminators. The house looked peaceful as they passed, she was relieved.

She then instructed him to stop out front. They manhandled the two terminator parts into the house.

"What happened?!" Derek was alarmed. "Who are you?" He asked Angel.

"I'm just here to help." In truth, he needed to know who these people were.

John and Cameron came downstairs, Cameron went into alert status and surveyed the outside from the window. Angel detected something odd about her movements.

"Derek, John, this is Angel, he saved me from that" she said pointing at the terminator on the living room floor. John and Derek introduced themselves, cautiously shaking hands with the stranger. Angel sensed a mixture of fear and confusion.

"How?" Said Derek to Angel, wary.

"He cut its head off with a dumpster lid."

Derek stared incredulously at her, then him. "You cut the head off a terminator?"

"It takes over 100,000 pounds per square cm to dis-articulate a T888 head from its chassis."

Angel said lamely, "Lucky shot?" Derek stared at him. He wasn't metal, which made this even more incredible.

They took the terminator into the basement and Sarah and Derek burned it to oxide with thermite.

The body had burned 4 inches into the concrete floor. They'd have to fill it in. They vented the fumes with a vacuum cleaner into the flue of the chimney.

Angel stood by, not saying anything.

They went back to the living room.

"Would you like some coffee?" Sarah offered Angel.

"Thanks, that would be great."

Sarah left to the kitchen, Cameron kept watch at the window. John walked over to her and asked if she wanted anything. She smiled at his consideration and said no. John kissed her cheek then sat down on the couch.

"So, Mr...Angel" Derek said. "Howjado it?" "How did you cut the head off of one of the machines?"

"_One_ of the machines?" Now Angel's interest piqued.

Derek looked at him, trying to figure him out.

Sarah came out with the coffee, gave some to Angel, herself and Derek and sat down.

Sarah parsed her speech carefully. "So Angel, thank you very much for saving my life, you don't know how much I owe you." (He really didn't yet).

Angel feigned false modesty, but in truth he did like it when he was thanked. "Oh, aw....your welcome."

His mind drifted back to a comment about "Angel's Avengers.."

Sarah didn't want to disclose anything without first getting Angel's story. "Angel to Derek's question, how did you do what I saw you do?" He looked into Sarah's eyes. This was a warrior, like him.

His philosophy had always been (at least, since the early 1900s) to protect the human world from monsters, and that also meant keeping them in the dark about things that go bump in the night. But he realized that these people were already into the other world.

"I'm a vampire." He said flatly.

"A what?" Said Derek. "Why do people always do that?" Angel thought. They hear perfectly well what you said and they asked you to repeat it. "A vampire."

Cameron turned around from the window and advanced a couple steps. "Vampire...a creature, the living dead, drinks blood, rooted in myth, many cultures and dangerous to humans!" Angel shifted backwards ever so slightly as she moved.

Sarah reached up, touched her arm and she stopped. "It's alright Cameron, I think I'd know if he meant us any harm." Cameron kept her position and stared at him intently. Angel could see she was "coiled like a spring." Another warrior.

"Vampires are real?" John stated in awe. "Sure, why not? We already have human-killing cyborgs."

Angel looked at him. John reminded him of his son Connor, now living with another family. John was a little younger. He felt a pang of regret, but brushed it from his mind. Sarah looked at Angel, seeming to sense something.

"Human killing cyborgs?" Angel said.

"So your a vampire, a blood drinking, coffin sleeping member of he undead set?" Derek said, not believing.

"I really hate that stereotype, the coffin thing, I sleep in a bed, just like people..." Angel said with some exasperation.

More seriously. "Vampires exist. They are evil, they do kill and eat people. Which is what I did, for over 100 years. He sighed. Still carrying the guilt of those days. "But I don't do that now. I have a soul." Then self-consciously, "I drink pig's blood." Sarah sensed his discomfort.

"You don't look like a vampire," said Derek, "What about the fangs?" Angel looked slightly ill at ease, but he did sense the presence of another warrior. A family of warriors?

Sarah, sensing this, said, "Derek, he is what he says he is, just accept it. How else could he have done what he did to that terminator?"

"He said it was a lucky shot" said Derek, facetiously. Sarah gave him a look.

"What do you do, as a vampire Angel?" Derek said directly.

"I help the helpless. I and my group. We fight evil. Demons, vampires, assorted Hell-spawn...big corporations...anyone who threatens humans, the human race"

"Are we in some kind of comic book Sarah?!" Derek said unbelievingly.

"Look, I know how it sounds, but trust me, it's all true, all real."

Derek could see the seriousness in Angel's eyes. He still didn't believe it, but said, "Ok..."

Sarah turned to John. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry, we have to move again. We've been compromised somehow, that T888 was 10 minutes from here."

John looked startled, just for a moment, then angry. "Is this EVER going to stop??" Sarah stroked his neck. Cameron looked concerned.

"So where to now Mom?" John said frustratedly.

"There will probably be more of them coming after us." Sarah said to Angel.

Angel so he offered his place, the old hotel he used as a sanctuary. "We may be able to do a spell to keep your robots-"

"-Cyborgs," John corrected him.

"Cyborgs" from finding you there." Angel finished.

Sarah and Derek looked warily at each other. Cameron continued to stare at Angel.

"Look, you've been in this battle for awhile, I can tell. Why are these things after you, where do they come from?" Asked Angel.

Sarah sighed. Looked at Derek. Then started. "Three years from now, a consortium of computer companies working on artificial intelligence will create a computer. That will be implemented by the U.S. Government as a central defense control system. The computer becomes self aware. Shortly after that, it declares war on the human race, launches an all-out, all-nation nuclear strike to kill us off.

The machine you destroyed is called a "terminator." "They are used to infiltrate human resistance and kill them. My son John becomes leader of the resistance against the machines, that happens later. Derek is his uncle, he works for him in the future, he came back using a...time machine to help." "Cameron," Sarah indicates the girl, "Is a terminator re-programmed by John in the future." "She was sent back to help protect him." Angel appraised the girl, she him. Both assessing any threat level.

"My job is simple. Protect my son at all costs and to try to prevent the creation of "Sky Net." "If we don't stop it now, Sky Net goes live, and "Judgment Day" arrives."

"Sky Net?" Angel asked.

"Sky Net is the computer system that tries to destroy us all."

Angel wondered why this never came up in any of the prophesies he'd read! Distractedly, he thought admiringly about Sarah, having had to give up her life, the life of her son, to see this through. He half-smiled at her, and she somehow sensed a kind of kinship with kim.

"Hey, well, look. I've prevented a couple apocalypses in my time." Bantered Angel.

"You seem pretty flip about this, the deaths of 3 billion people." Sarah said, somewhat annoyed.

"Sorry, I just meant we've, my team, have dealt with humanity-dooming threats before. I think we can help you."

Sarah agreed to let them go to Angel's place. At least for the time being. Angel called ahead, to make arrangements, Wesley was shocked at what he was told. He surmised later that because Sky Net was a purely human construct, it didn't turn up in the typically mystically-oriented documents on prophecy he'd read.

Luckily, after they'd said their final "goodbye's" to Wolfram & Hart, the law firm representing most of the evil in the universe, he'd been able to salvage much of the reference material they had. Wesley's own existence had been "salvaged" by his resurrection after being killed by a demon in the battle that ensued upon their leaving the evil place.

When they arrived at Angel's hotel, introductions had to be made.

"Ok! I'll go through this quickly." Said Angel.

Sarah, Derek, John & Cameron, this is Wesley. Wesley is a former Watcher. A Watcher is responsible for the training and watching of a "Vampire Slayer." A vampire slayer is a female human enhanced by superior strength and instinct who kills vampires. Wesley is also an expert on supernatural entities, dimensions, he's our researcher. Gunn is a lawyer by training, but he does other things as well.

"What about me??" Said a shorter man, dressed in a black coat, sporting platinum blond hair.

Angel, with a histrionic sigh said, "This is Spike, he's a vampire ("Like Angel" Spike piped up) "NOT like me." Angel said. "He fights with us, he has a soul as well..."  
"Don't sound so enthusiastic," said Spike sarcastically. Angel gave him a "Not now" look.

"This is Illyria." They looked at the slightly-built girl with a skin-tight brown coloured outfit and huge piercing blue eyes (and a blue forehead and blue-streaked hair). "Allyria is a...former god, 1.5 million years ago, when we were..slime...at her feet..."

"The slime that ate itself." Stated Allyria.

"Allyria..." Started Wesley.

"Sorry. Nice to meet you" Said Allyria. "Is that better?" She looked at Wesley. Wesley looked skyward.

"She's the strongest amongst us, being a former god and all..." Said Angel.

John thought, "She's pretty hot for a non-human."

Cameron looked at Allyria.

Angel continued; "Spike, Wesley, Gunn, Allyria." This is Sarah, John, Derek and Cameron.

Sarah is John's mother, she's fighting to protect him from Sky Net and terminators. John is the future leader of the resistance against the machines. Derek is John's uncle from the future, he's here to help John as well. Cameron is a terminator. She was re-programmed in the future by John and sent back through time like Derek to protect John.

Allyria looked at Cameron, Cameron looked at Allyria, both sizing each other up.

They all stared at each other until Wesley broke the ice.

"Angel, I think we should go over everything in the morning. We should get some rest. If anyone is hungry, the kitchen is well-stocked. I'll show you where your rooms are."

"I'm not tired, I'd like to get hang of the layout here." Said Derek.

"I understand, Gunn and I will give you a rundown on the building blueprints." Said Wes. "Angel, I've had the girls (referring to three wraiths Angel knows that they use for this) do a sanctuary spell, it should at least alert us if anything gets near the building."

Angel nodded. "Spike?"

"Hmm?" Spike said.

"Do a watch for a few hours, if anything gets in, kill it."

"Aye, aye, captain forehead." Spike said.

Allyria said, "I'll watch with the half-breed as well. If anything crosses the threshold, I'll use their skulls as planting pots!"

"Atta girl!" Said Spike with enthusiasm. "By the way, if you must, use the term, "hybrid" not "halfbreed." "Let me grab a beer first!"

Allyria cocked her head at him as he walked to the kitchen for a Heineken.

Angel looked at Sarah and by way of explanation/apology, "She's still...new to this World. He's an idiot, but the beer won't effect him much, vampire constitution, plus he's a tenacious fighter."

Angel wanted her to feel safe.

Sarah noted Angel went downstairs, to the basement, she presumed. She went to her room, washed up, but kept most of her outfit on as usual. John's room was opposite, she could hear him. Cameron had gone up to the top floor to watch the grounds for awhile. But John would see she slept or he'd see it at any rate.

Sarah wanted to speak to Angel some more, wanted to understand this new, even more dangerous world they'd just entered. She went downstairs and knocked on his door.

"Oh! Is anything wrong?"

"Could I talk to you for a moment?" Sarah asked.

Somewhat awkwardly, he invited her in.

His bedroom was spartan, but the bed was nice, large. She sat on the edge. He sat next to her.

"Can you give me a rundown on this...alternate World? I want to understand it more."

"You mean strengths, weaknesses, dangers?" She was strategizing, he knew. A good warrior.

"Yes."

"Ok, well, I'm a vampire, you already know that. I'm a lot stronger than a man, you knew that, I can be killed by a wooden stake through the heart, fire, decapitation and direct sunlight. If I go to someone's house, apartment, etc., I have to be invited in before I can enter. I don't need to eat, except for blood and I don't age."

"How did you become what you are?" Sarah looked at him.

"I was turned by another vampire, around 1770."

"How did you get a soul?" In truth, Sarah didn't know that the vampire legend said they didn't have souls.

He studied her. "I was in Romania, I massacred a Gypsy village, the surviving patriarch curse me with a soul, so I'd suffer perpetual torment for what I'd done. It took me 100 years to come to some kind of terms with it." He was careful to leave out one critical element.

"And you help the helpless to atone?"

"I'll never be able to fully atone, but I do what I can now."

Sarah looked concerned.

"Don't worry, I promise you that your son is safe here."

"I haven't felt safe since 1984." She said with resignation.

"1984?" Angel quizzed.

"I was a twenty-one year-old waitressing in downtown L.A. Not a major care in the World. That's when I met John's father and this all started. He died...fighting a terminator"

Angel considered this.

"Sarah, if you were twenty-one in 1984, then you're forty-five years old?" He knew she wasn't.

"We time-jumped nine years to evade a terminator. The time jump worked, the evasion didn't"

She looked as melancholy as he often did. He tried to lighten them mood a bit.

"Oh, so your only-" He said.

"-Twenty-seven!" She finished. He laughed.

She tilted her neck, he saw the purple bruising she'd gotten from the terminator's strangulation grip.

She winced at the pain.

"Just a second" He said. And disappeared into kitchen adjacent his room.

He came back with ice in a towel. She turned her back to him slightly. He applied the pack. She sighed at the feeling of the cool pack.

He looked at her. Part of him admired her. Part of him felt sorry for her. Part of him desired her, part of him longed for the taste of her blood, but he suppressed that part so only the faintest whiff of it hit him.

He allowed her to lean her back against his chest. He loved the feel, one denied to him. For her part, she felt that for once, she didn't have to be the rock she always was. He had no heartbeat, he didn't radiate much heat, but he felt "comfortable."

She cleared her throat a bit. "So, um, where did vampires, demons, where did they come from?"

"From what we know, demons inhabited the Earth before man. Man came, demons lost their dominion. Vampires are a kind of demon-man hybrid. We don't know what created the first one."

"What else is there?"

"Witches, Warlocks, sorcerers, necromancers, oracles, seers, different dimensions, "higher beings," the Senior Partners (evil) the Powers that Be (good). According to Allyria, she's a higher being, or was one. A demon god from way back. She's a walking ego-trip, but she's on our side. I should also point out, not all demons are bad, actively trying to wipe humans off the map. Some just want to live their lives. There are also demon-human beings produced when the two..."

"You know, despite the violence and the danger, it is fascinating, even more so that most of us don't know anything about any of this." Sarah said.

"We didn't know about judgment day." Said Angel.

"It may not be stoppable you know. Some theorize that it's inevitable. If you keep advancing computer technology, it happens. If you warn everyone, someone will think they can control it if they invent it. This could be the ultimate fool's errand, trying to stop it."

Sarah considered the ultimate consequences and began to cry softly, thinking about the fate of humanity, her son...

Angel put his arms around her. "Don't worry. We've faced things like this before, if there is a way to stop it, we'll do it, I promise you that." He stroked the back of her head with his hand.

Sarah backed off a bit. "I'm sorry, I can usually control this."

"Nothing to be sorry about. I think you are an amazing person, you fought this, by yourself, for 15 years. Not many could do that. I doubt I could."

"Thank you." she said softly.

They looked at each other, then he kissed her. She kissed him back. Shortly thereafter, they made love. She, slightly embarrassed, realized his room temperature body heightened her pleasure. That, and felling safe for the first time in over a decade. Both of their releases were dramatic and long overdue.


End file.
